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Friday, April 2, 2010

Old Favorites

I discovered the books of Stephanie Grace Whitson in the mid-90's. Stephanie lives in Nebraska (and so did we at that time) and many of her stories take place on the wide-open Nebraska prairie in the late 1800's. Her first triology - the Prairie Winds Series (shown above) - was phenomenal. I devoured them as fast as I could and passed them on to my friends who, in turn, gobbled them up and passed them on, and naturally they never returned. (It's possible that I never owned all three to start with - maybe one of the other gals purchased one for all of us to share? My memory isn't what it used to be.) The point being - I have never re-read them.

I have since read other books by Mrs. Whitson, and they have been enjoyable stories, but in my mind they never measured up to that first series. I am currently reading her newest, Sixteen Brides, which is shaping up to be a good read, but it got me to thinking about the Prarie Winds series again. Were they really that good or was it just the time in my life? Am I remembering the stories correctly? So, I'm on a quest.

They are no longer in print, but I did find used copies on BarnesandNoble.com for $1.99 each - plus $11 shipping. Yes, I realize the total is still less than an average hardback, but somehow the shipping fee irks me, so before I do that I thought I would put the word out to the blogger universe. Does anyone out there have this set that they would like to swap? I have other Whitson titles and other Christian authors I'm willing to part with in exchange.

There are some books that can't be read enough times. I have a well-worn copy of "...And Ladies of the Club" by Helen Hooven Santmeyer; Dickins' A Christmas Carol comes down from the shelf each Christmas; and I've been through the "Cat Who..." series by Lilian Jackson Braun countless times (especially the early ones). I also have the Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel that I was in love with at one point that I have high hopes of re-reading someday. What books from your past would you love to re-read if you could track them down? What titles do you keep on your shelf to come back to again and again?

3 comments:

I haven't heard of the Prairie Whitson series but it sounds good. I hope you find them at a more affordable price. There are some book swapping sites that might help you. I know quite a few bloggers swear by paperbackswap.com. That may help.

What a joy to received a Google Alert about those first 3 books. Thank you for making my day!Just FYI, the Prairie Winds books are available behind a new cover through most of the online book sales sites (or my own web site). I put them back in print with www.iUniverse.com because so many fans seemed to still want access. I completely understand used book buying, so don't feel weird because I posted. . . but I wanted you to know that there is a "new" option as well.God bless you and grant you a wonderful and blessed Easter celebrating the resurrection.Stephanie Whitson